The Partners in the Lab
by krazegirl
Summary: Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth have a partnership that extends beyond the Jeffersonian lab. Multichapter fic incorporating scenes and dialogue from the show. Can be considered AU but I think you'll enjoy it. Chapter 5 posted Jan 25th.
1. Don't Call Me

AN: A brand new fic for y'all. This will be a multi-chapter fic that follows the episodes of seasons 1-3. The first five chapters will have scenes and dialogue from the pilot. I don't own anything related to Bones. Beta work by friendsidol5.

Chapter 1 Don't Call Me…

Temperance Brennan walked through the Dulles International Airport purposefully. The tepid air was refreshing after hours aboard the plane where the circulated air was stale and dry. Outside the day looked warm and she knew from experience it would be humid as well. She scanned the crowd until she found her friend and smiled, unsurprised by the site of Angela Montenegro flashing the ticket agent.

"Tell me you tried excuse me first?" she inquired, pleased to see a brief wave of guilt pass Angela's eyes before it was masked with a smile and hug.

Brennan grinned at Angela's response as the artist embraced her, top still open.

They walked to the car; chatting about flashing, mass graves and Brennan's ex-boyfriend Pete when Brennan had the distinct feeling she was being closely trailed. Dropping her bag and turning in one movement she addressed the tall African American man in the black suit behind her,

"Sir, why are you following us?" she managed to ask before bringing the man to his knees in a series of quick hits. Angela was in the midst of hitting the downed man with her purse whilst yelling 'kick his ass!' when the man announced he was with Homeland Security. Soon they were surrounded by men with guns in uniform. Brennan tried, unsuccessfully, to diffuse the situation when the agent recovered her shoulder bag and began searching its contents.

On the outside the auburn haired woman was calm and collected, knowing her rights as a citizen and momentarily savoring the guarantee of due process, something Guatemalans were not known for. Internally, Temperance seethed, wondering why Homeland Security had her pegged and why today, of all days when she just wanted to go home and sleep, they were set on detaining her. If they found…

Angela looked on, grinning widely as the agent was surprised to find himself staring at a human skull in the anthropologist's bag. Her smile faded as the pair was retained and questioned. Angela, to the artists' disappointment, was released immediately and went about securing the remainder of Brennan's luggage; the pieces without human remains, that is.

Brennan was exhausted, leaning tired on the table in the cool room she resisted the urge to shiver knowing it would give the illusion of fear. That was one thing her time in Guatemala had taught her. She addressed the agent questioning her credentials,

"I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan, I've been in Guatemala for two months identifying victim of genocide… I'm an anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian," she attempted to pacify the man she'd brought down while a second agent shifted through her belongings. They didn't seem to be buying it.

The door swung open and a tall, dark-haired man entered, tucking a file under the arm of his tailored suit. The original agent addressed her again, bitterness evident in his voice,

"Who works for the FBI, which I might maybe believe if you had an ID that did more than allowed you access to the cafeteria," the man leaned in, trying his hand at intimidation once again. "You are illegally transporting human remains, ma'am. And you assaulted a homeland security agent."

"Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your friends," her tone was condescending and anything but apologetic, "but next time you should identify yourself before attacking me. Who are you?" she turned to the silent man, challenging him.

"FBI, Special Agent Seeley Booth, Major Crime Investigation D.C. 'Bones' identifies bodies for us." Booth groaned internally wishing he could be somewhere else besides bailing out this squint.

"Don't call me Bones! And I do more than identify," she protested, unsure who this new agent was since she had certainly never identified bones for him personally. And who was he to call her 'Bones'? Just because she carried some around in her bag? She did recall hearing from Angela a new agent had started the week after she left for South America but assumed he would be gone before she returned.

"She also writes books," Booth interjected, sliding a copy of her fiction novel to the agent.

"Fine, she's all yours." Brennan knew, logically, there was something else going on, the agent had yet to finish searching her bag but would release her on the word of this stranger? But there was something else she couldn't place. Logically she knew that deja vu was an irrational belief; it held no scientific proof of recollection to a past event. But the way this man walked, held his shoulders, and his amiable smile, meant to make woman swoon, she was sure, triggered something in the scientist that she couldn't explain.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" She asked seriously with an air of superiority as they left the terminal. _Who was he to walk in and announce he'd freed her from this moron?_

"Special Agent Seeley Booth," he smiled again, as if she'd missed his previous introduction, "Deputy Director Sam Cullen has assigned me to liaise with the Jeffersonian on federal cases requiring the expertise of a forensic anthropologist, you," he motioned with the folder which no doubt described the skull from her bag and her abuse of the agent, "are an anthropologist." Brennan could tell by the way he grinned with cocky self-assurance that he was accustomed to this smile's persuasive powers. She remained silent, searching the archives of her memory for the time, a place, where she'd met him before. Eyebrows arched Booth continued,

"You are an anthropologist right? Dr…." he scanned the file, "Temperance Brennan?" His eyes now widened in recognition as he viewed her appreciably, taking in the auburn hair he remembered, those damn blue eyes. She'd definitely grown up and, from the looks of it, grown up well. "Froggy?"

If Booth was unsure before now, her reaction confirmed his suspicions as her face quickly flushed and her eyes flashed,

"Don't call me Froggy!" she insisted, knowing at once the only person who'd ever dared to nickname her and gotten away with it. "Seeley?"

"That's what the badge says," he confirmed as he led her to his waiting vehicle. This was not a discussion he wanted to have in the oppressive mid-day heat of Washington D.C.; this was a perfect conversation for the car, specifically his FBI issued black Suburban, with him behind the wheel and calling the shots.

"Let's go," he encouraged, when she balked at his grip.

"See-", _no,_ she reminded herself, _Seeley left a long time ago. This man is Booth, not Seeley._ "Booth! What are you doing, where are we going?"

"We've got a case. And we need to catch up, let's go Froggy." Brennan resisted the urge to smack the back of his head.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Don't call me that!" the young girl insisted in a low whisper, arms crossed and sitting tall atop the lab stool, hoping no one else had heard the unflattering nickname.

"But you're dissecting a frog… and enjoying it." Seeley Booth explained to his lab partner, as if it would help his case.

"The only reason I'm dissecting is because _someone_ has a fear of amphibians. An unnatural fear, I might add." Seeley simply grinned.

"Listen, _Temperance_," he emphasized her given name with a smile, "it's a profitable division of labor. You cut that _thing_ and I write the reports. Simple. Easy. You don't get frog guts on the papers and I don't touch it." Temperance rolled her eyes.

"_It_ is a _Lithobates catesbeianus_ from the Rainidae family and _it_ does not have 'guts' this," she held up her miniature forceps and pointed with a gloved finger, "is the posterior duodenal ileum which is held in place by the mesenteric membrane." She suppressed a grin as Seeley turned a light shade of green. He masked his discomfort with another smile.

"And all that mumbo jumbo is supposed to make it more fun to chop up?"

"Exactly, and in the Southern United States, it is more likely to be chopped up as a minor food source in gumbo or fried in batter."

"Good thing we're no where near the south." Seeley pointed out as he recorded the description of the intestines on his lab form.

Temperance sighed and returned to her work, the lab period would be over in a matter of minutes and she was intent on finishing the digestive system before the bell rang. Seeley continued to record her narrative while keeping his eyes carefully diverted from, as he called it, the corpse. Soon their science teacher had instructed the class to begin clean-up in preparation for the end of class. But as Seeley collected the jar to stuff the frog back in, jars he could handle, Temperance kept cutting, moving on defiantly to the circulatory system.

"Temperance, it's almost three. Let's get out of here." He encouraged, doing all but picking up the frog himself.

"I'm not finished," she looked up to find him waiting impatiently, "go, I can finish this myself."

"School's out, time to go…" Temperance wasn't listening again. "Who'll take notes on your ramblings? We'll finish this tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Saturday." Seeley gulped, knowing if he didn't act fast he'd be spending the weekend staring at frog guts.

"Fine, Monday, we'll finish Monday. We're already ahead of the rest of the class."

"I'll finish it now. Dr. Klauson already gave me permission to stay late."

"What's the rush?" Temperance didn't expect him to understand but explained anyway.

"If I can finish the required dissections early Dr. Klauson might be able to arrange another specimen." Seeley was astonished at her eagerness to cut into another thing.

"You're a sophomore in _Senior _Honors Biology. And taking the AP track. You have the best average in the class. Why do you need the extra credit?"

Temperance shrugged as she dissected the cloacae, "I didn't say it was for extra credit," she sat up again, away from the specimen at hand, "and how, again, did you get into Honors Biology without ever dissecting yourself?" Seeley scowled, knowing few people understood his schedule and Temperance was one of them.

"The registrar screwed up my schedule. But, hey, they figured, it's only one semester so who cares?" Temperance considered the dilemma thoughtfully.

"They're probably right; you graduate in June either way. Which is why, you should probably learn the anatomy of this bullfrog or you'll fail the test next week." Seeley rolled his eyes and dropped his backpack, resigned to the fact she would not be leaving the laboratory anytime soon. He sat again on his stool, dangerously close to the smirking, budding scientist.

"My lab reports are high enough to save my grade. I'll pull out a 'C'." He predicted in confidence. Temperance scoffed and waved him away, wishing for quiet.

"Just go, I can finish here and work on the report this weekend. It'll be done by Monday and your grade will be safe."

"Nope, I can stay. Football season is over now and there's not much to rush home to." Temperance smiled and muttered to herself,

"Sounds familiar."

END Chapter

AN: Thanks for reading folks! I'm stuck at home in the middle of a huge storm-the rain is coming in and the wind has swept away the cats. Reviews make me happy!


	2. Debates and Driving

AN: Again, thank you friendsidol5 for the beta work!

Chapter 2 Debates and Driving

"That's the best you can do?" Dr. Brennan challenged growing more animated with each passing block from the passenger seat of the SUV, glaring at the agent who had just released her from Homeland Security custody. At least they released the evidence back to her possession.

"What?" Agent Booth stole a sideways glace as he drove to the aforementioned crime scene, feigning innocence at her implied accusation.

"Getting Homeland Security to snatch me so you can stage a fake rescue?" Brennan sneered; chivalry might work for some but not on her.

"Hey, at least I picked you up at the airport!" His false cheeriness annoyed Temperance. She decided not to mention she already had someone to pick her up. Instead, she moved right to implementing her escape plan.

"If you drive one more block, I'm screaming 'kidnap' out the window." Her eyes sparkled teasingly and she gestured to the sidewalk as if she'd follow up the threat by jumping from the moving vehicle. Booth grinned at her, recalling all the times he'd driven her home from school against her will.

"You know what? I'm trying to mend bridges here." Temperance had no idea what he meant by that but stuck to her position, she wasn't fifteen anymore, damn it.

"Pull over." Booth resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he maneuvered the car to the curb with a screeching halt. Normally, FBI agents didn't cave to the requests of nerds but in this case he recognized that tone, she meant business.

"I'm going home." She announced, hoisting her bag on her shoulder. Her apartment was only a few miles away anyways. To her chagrin, he was now following her.

"Can we just skip this part?" Temperance pulled a face she was well aware he couldn't see._ Yeah, and I'll just give in to what you want. Unlikely, See- Booth!_

"I find you very condescending." The doctor enjoyed a well placed insult to the overly cocky agent, knowing it would suffice to change the subject.

"Me?" Booth was outraged. "I'm condescending? I'm not the one whose gotta mention she's got a doctorate _every five minutes_!" She seemed intent on reminding him all of what she'd accomplished since they'd last worked together, all those years ago. Temperance spun, walking backwards without slowing her pace.

"I _am_ the one with the doctorate!" was the doctor's triumphant retort. _Two can play this game, Booth. It's been fourteen years, what have you done lately?_

"Yeah, and I'm the one with the badge and the gun." Booth asserted, as if it would make a difference to the anthropologist who had just taken down a Homeland Security Agent with her bare hands (and Angela's purse). "You know you're not the only forensic anthropologist in town." There, appeal to her self importance.

"Yes, I am." Brennan smirked; Booth had obviously not done his homework. Figures. "The next nearest is in Montreal. Parlez-vous français ?" She smiled; pretty sure Booth had passed French 2 but only barely.

Booth scowled. _Damn, she is the only anthropologist around_. Not to mention he had never partnered with anyone else nor did he want to. It was clearly time to negotiate.

"What's it going to take?" He asked stopping. Brennan turned to face him, gauging his sincerity.

"Full participation in the case." He thought for a moment, easy enough, she can participate from her lab.

"Fine." Brennan viewed him suspiciously.

"Not just lab work, everything."

"You wanna spit in my hand? We're Scully and Mulder." He offered, going for the classic dork reference.

"I don't know what that means." Brennan admitted without embarrassment.

"It's an olive branch, just get back in the car." Triumph was evident in Brennan's eye as she tilted her head, accepting the deal. Booth sighed, climbing behind the wheel, simply thankful she understood the meaning of an olive branch.

BBBBBB

It was nearly dark when the two finally left the high school, having completed the bullfrog dissection and sufficiently recorded notes on the process. It was still early evening but the January night was cool and windy. Temperance shivered as she walked to the bus station, hoping the rain would hold off until she got home. _Home,_ she scoffed internally,_ I'm not going home. _She'd only been at this particular foster home for two weeks and it was already worse than the previous one.

It had only been a month and Temperance still watched the street every night, waiting for a glimpse of Russ' car back from California. She'd waited every night of her Winter break, desperate to see her parents drive back down their street with a crazy explanation for their absence. In the early days she allowed herself the folly of making up reasons why they would leave her. They won the lottery and had to stash the money before telling anyone. They were off planning a big Christmas vacation and were waiting to surprise her and Russ. Maybe her parents were secret spies for the government who'd been called away for a mission and the message hadn't come through yet.

Now when Temperance went to bed at night she didn't imagine where her parents were. She was too afraid to imagine the possibilities. After a month she knew there was no way they were okay, were somewhere safe that they could call from. After Russ left, Temperance knew, her parents were probably dead, buried or damaged beyond recognition. Who would kill a science teacher and a bookkeeper? And why? These were the questions that kept her up at night.

It was hardest to concentrate at school when she would get bored by her classes and let her mind wander. Once she could swear she heard Russ calling to her "Marco." Foolishly looking around, desperate for her brother, she found no one. _There is no one,_ she reminded herself, walking slowly to the bus stop. _No one._

"Temperance!" She looked up, surprised, as Seeley drove up in his beat up truck.

"Need a ride?" he asked, genuinely concerned as he noticed her thin sweater which offered no protection to her small frame.

"I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll rephrase. Do you _want_ a ride? I don't mind, Temperance, really." She stopped walking and Seeley stopped the car alongside the sidewalk. Leaning over he opened the door with a quick flick of his wrist.

"Come on, get in." Temperance did but felt the need to correct him, she didn't want a ride but she wanted him following her even less.

"I'm not just doing this because you told me to. It's cold." She stated, watching as Seeley turned up the heater and rolled up her window.

"Thank you," she added softly, unsure what else to say.

"Not a problem, Fr-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll jump out of this car before you can stop me!" she warned with a glare.

"Friend," he grinned at her, catching the girl off guard.

"Very funny," she grumbled, hoisting her backpack up from the floorboard. Soon she realized they were not heading toward her foster home and told Seeley,

"You'll need to turn left at the next intersection."

"Eh, I'll get you home…. eventually." He promised evasively.

"Now, Seeley."

"Chill out, I'm not kidnapping you. But I'm hungry." He pulled the truck into a familiar pizza place, one that Temperance had visited frequently with Russ.

"No."

"It's really good," Seeley promised with another smile, "I'll buy you a slice."

"No."

Seeley was confused. He'd stayed after school _two hours_ in the biology lab, watching his annoyingly perfect lab partner gleefully dissect a bullfrog, a bullfrog! And now she wouldn't even stop for a pizza?

"Why not?" his tone was far from challenging but Temperance glared anyway.

"Why do I need a reason? I need to go… home." She finished lamely.

"Are your parents really strict?" he asked, sympathizing with her plight.

"No," Temperance recalled the new foster father did have a tendency to enforce his rules with a switch, "sort of, listen they're not my parents and I do need to get back _there._ I'm not hungry so please just drive and you'll never have to do this again."

Seeley turned the car back on and followed her directions quietly. When they'd pulled up in front of the house she jumped out before he could speak and turned, waving slightly in thanks before she went inside.

END Chapter


	3. Dead Ducks and New Deals

AN: Sorry it took awhile to update, I've been sick and just now recovering a little. Scenes and dialogue from "Pilot" all of which belong to not me; I'll start expanding on the scenes from the pilot soon. Beta work by friendsidol5.

Chapter 3 Dead Ducks and New Deals

Booth stood on the steps outside the Jeffersonian, his frustrations building. Here was Cleo Eller, dead, her bones here in the Jeffersonian lab and the bug guy was more interested in the Senator's involvement pre-mortem than the fact that a family had lost their only daughter. He turned to Brennan,

"How did you recognize her before she even had her own face?" Booth asked impressed by the process which led to the positive identification.

"I recognized the underlying architecture of her features…. the rest is just window dressing." She explained before the rest of the squints chimed in with theories of cover ups.

"I need this kept quiet." Booth decided, descending the stairs and into the gardens outside the Natural History Museum, Brennan following closely behind.

"So what do you do first? Confront the senator?" Temperance chased him through the Jeffersonian gardens, rushing to match his long stride.

"Listen Bones..." Booth reasoned, looking for a good way to break the news that there was no way he would let her confront a US Senator.

"Don't call me Bones!" Brennan shouted, but Booth kept moving, uncaring.

"I know we talked about you coming out in the field but-", Temperance was furious, stopping in her pursuit.

"Ahhhhhhhhh, you rat bastard!" _Did she just call me what I think she did? _Booth asked himself, recalling the most likely sequence of events following this break in the case.

"A case this big, the director's going to create a special investigation unit and if I line all my ducks up in a row maybe I-", again Booth was cut off by his eager partner following and, quite possibly, gaining on him.

"I don't know what that means but I think I can be a duck," Brennan practically bounced behind him, hoping to get in on this duck process.

"You're not a duck. No, on this one we stick to the book. Cops on the street; squints in the lab." Brennan recognized that _I'm in charge and we do this my way_ tone. Recalling her earlier conversation with Dr. Goodman concerning the lack of respect certain agents held for scientists she took drastic action.

"Well in that case the Jeffersonian will be issuing a press release identifying the girl in the pond." Booth spun on his heel,

"You do that and I'm a dead duck." To his dismay, she held her ground. "What are you trying to do?" He asked, moving closer, hoping to intimidate her.

"Blackmail you." Brennan answered with only slight hesitation.

"Blackmail a federal agent?" _Well, this is new,_ he was surprised by her revelation,_ maybe she'll take it back._

"Yes." _Or maybe not, okay Seeley, appeal to her better nature._ Booth shifted his eyes, and tried to control his body language though he was certain she didn't follow the psychological methods of identifying underlying emotion.

"I don't like it." He managed, to which she immediately responded,

"I'm fairly certain you're not supposed to…" Booth was resigned to his fate, though he didn't have to enjoy it.

"Fine, you're in." It was time for Dr. Brennan to meet Deputy Director Cullen. Fun.

BBBBB

Monday morning came too quickly for Seeley Booth. His mom was busy listening for her new jingle on the radio and had yelled at him intermittently for over an hour before he'd jumped into the shower and quickly dressed for school. He was out the door and in his truck within minutes. School was the furthest thing from Seeley's mind as he pulled into the parking lot, scanning the crowd for Temperance.

Seeley wasn't one to leave things unsettled and needed his partner to stick with him in biology if he was ever going to pass. Spotting her weaving between the masses Booth jogged easily to her side, clearing an ill-placed bench in the process.

Temperance jumped as someone landed just feet from her intended path. A quick glance identified that someone as Seeley. Inwardly Temperance groaned, she didn't want more pizza invitations from her late addition lab partner and certainly didn't want to hear him call her "Froggy" again.

"Hey Tempe, how was your weekend?" he asked innocently, settling his backpack on his shoulder.

"Fine."

"Good, listen, about Friday-"

"Listen, Seeley, there's nothing to talk about. I'll see you in lab later." Seeley rolled his eyes and caught her arm before she could walk away.

"Temperance! Just wait," Seeley let go of her arm to rummage through his backpack. Finding the papers he wanted, he handed them to her without fanfare, "the report's finished. Take a look at it and if everything looks good we can turn it in today. It'll put us a week ahead of the rest of the class and you just might get that other corpse."

Temperance flipped through the report cautiously. It was typed and looked like Seeley spent his time locating the correct terminology for the dissected frog. She looked back at him, wonder dancing in her blue eyes, questioning his motives automatically. Seeley smiled slightly and left her side quickly,

"See you in bio!" he shouted over his shoulder.

The question of Seeley's motive and timing in giving her the report occupied most of Temperance's thoughts during her morning English class. She managed to maintain a look of quiet interest during the teacher's lecture on the upcoming creative writing project, one that Temperance had in fact already completed, and became lost in her thoughts.

The teachers had learned not to call on Temperance Brennan during class, while her answers on paper were articulate and well thought out, the girl never spoke up in class, whether she was asked or not. Most already knew of her family troubles in the past month, parents disappearing, brother leaving her to the foster system and Temperance was glad to be left alone despite their obvious pity.

Biology class finally came and Temperance hurried to the room, hoping to catch Dr. Klauson before the other students arrived. She opened the door to find Dr. Klauson deep in conversation with another student, but her heart sank as she recognized it was Seeley.

A pang of disappointment tore through her, if Seeley wanted a new partner or even to be left on his own now that the dissections were complete, that was fine with her. Temperance Brennan worked better on her own, without the distraction of an inept partner who didn't understand science but she didn't like not being the one to call the shots, no she didn't like that at all.

The first bell rang and a rush of students pushed past Temperance and into the lab room. Temperance hurried after them, finding her seat and handing the lab report to Dr. Klauson as he passed. Seeley found his seat beside her and grinned.

"Report meet your standards?" he inquired, pleased with her approval more than he would ever let on.

"It was well done, thank you. Now that the dissections are done what will you do until we start field trips next quarter?" She feigned interest even as she hoped he'd have the decency to tell her the truth.

"Ah, Froggy, we didn't go through all that work just to sit back, did we? Klauson mentioned he could acquire a fetal pig from the University's anatomy department. It should be here by Wednesday." His eye held a familiar gleam and Temperance glared.

"If you dare call me Piggy, Seeley Booth, and I'll..."

"What?" He asked, smiling at the flustered budding scientist. Temperance stopped, frantically imagining what could be threatening to Seeley.

"I'll leave this dissection entirely to you. Entrails and all." She smiled even as Seeley's eyes grew wide and frantic.

"Deal. Besides, you're much to pretty to ever call 'Piggy'." And as casually as he'd said it, Seeley turned his attention to Dr. Klauson's announcements about the upcoming test, leaving Temperance flustered and confused.

_Why was he willing to dissect specimens he obviously hated and do more work? What was he getting out of this?_

END Chapter

AN: Thank you for your kind reviews! Please let me know what you think about the chapter.


	4. Declaring War

Chapter 4 Declaring War

Booth was becoming more frustrated with forced cooperation with the squints. He'd already dealt with Bones' insensitivity with the Ellers and now was watching a video game like recreation of Cleo's murder and the paranoid ramblings of supposed geniuses. _Right… and how am I going to explain this to a jury?_

"You expect me to declare war on a United States Senator based on your little holographic crystal ball?" He challenged, imagining the defense attorney referencing Miss Cleo and Dionne Warwick during the cross.

"It's not magic. It's a logical recreation of events based on evidence." Brennan insisted, already frustrated at being dismissed by Cullen and now Booth.

"It's no more valid than my gut." Booth discarded, apparently angering Dr. Brennan's assistant.

"A good hypothesis withstands testing; it's what makes it a good hypothesis." Dr. Brennan silently agreed with Zack, wondering if Booth's lack of attention in biology extended to the basics of the scientific process and reasoning.

"It's not a hypothesis. You have a dead girl and a United States Senator. This is exactly why squints belong in the lab. You guys don't know anything about the real world." Booth asserted confidently, determined to keep the scientists from taking over his case.

Brennan left, Hodgins and Zack following, the former sparing a dirty glance at the agent who had summarily ignored the evidence they'd painstakingly gathered and explained.

"Wow, touchy!" Booth appealed to the final remaining Jeffersonian member, the most normal in his estimation. Angela smiled patiently and began to inform this new agent, as she had with many before him, of Brennan's circumstances.

"You must know about her family. Both parents vanished when she was fifteen; probably counts as the real world." Booth resisted telling the artist how much he indeed knew about her family.

"Yeah, I know the story, I read the file. The cops never found out anything." He grimaced, hoping Angela wouldn't tell Brennan that he'd researched her.

"Brennan figures that if maybe somebody like her had been there…" Booth thought back to those first months after the disappearance, the frustrations he'd witnessed, knowing it was just the beginning. Fourteen years later and no clues to the elder Brennans' whereabouts.

"Well for somebody who hates psychology, she sure has a lot of it." Angela simply nodded at Booth before leaving the room. Booth looked about the room, remembering the spring of 1996 when he graduated high school.

BBBBBBBB

Seeley arrived before the bell to his fifth period history class, surprised to see Temperance at the back of the room, her desk stacked with newspapers. Other students were milling about preparing for the current event presentations Mrs. Thomas assigned every class at the beginning of every semester.

Glancing at his watch, Seeley realized fourth period must not yet have finished and snuck into the back of the classroom unnoticed. Snatching the Sports Section from Temperance's pile, he opened the paper hiding from the teachers' inattentive eyes.

"What-", Temperance stopped as Seeley grinned at her from behind his makeshift blockade.

"Hey, Tempe, where's your current events group? Cowering in fear from the task master's whip?" Temperance narrowed her eyes and returned to scanning the articles before her. When she spoke her words were clipped and her tone unfriendly.

"I don't have a group. I worked alone and finished the project last week."

"Really, what did you put under world events? I'm thinking of President Bush barfing on the Japanese dude." Temperance rolled her eyes.

"The dissolution of the Soviet Union and resignation of Gorbachev."

"Seriously? So if you are done, what _are_ you doing, shouldn't you be studying for biology or preparing for college or something?" Temperance glared her best glare, which was seriously lacking and Seeley returned another cheery smile.

"What are you doing here? _Seriously?_" she mocked, circling a short article before pulling another paper from the stack.

"I ditched 4th period but came back a few minutes early. Can't have Mrs. Thomas sending me back to French class, can I?" Temperance spared him another glance before straightening slightly in her seat and fixing her gaze on the teacher in question.

"Temperance! Please…" Seeley was at a loss of words, unsure how to bargain with the girl who knows everything and seemed to need nothing, least of all from him.

Brushing a strand of hair from her face, Temperance smirked and returned to her articles, hoping to be left alone until the bell rang. Well, until biology when Seeley would be back.

"Thanks, Tempe, I mean it," Seeley sighed in relief, hoping to avoid detection for the remainder of the period. "Do you need help with… whatever you're working on?" He offered, already bored with the national newspaper which provided none of the local high school sports stats he was interested in.

"No." And again there was something in the tone that warned Seeley not to tease, not to peer over the girl's shoulder to see what was of such importance. Shrugging, he turned the page and read up on the Redskins and their chances of winning a third Super Bowl next weekend.

Temperance returned to her work and blocked out the distraction that Seeley Booth embodied. Just before the bell signaled the end of the class, Seeley saw her circle an article in the crime section "Dahmer pleads not guilty" and make several stars next to the descriptions of the forensic identifications of his victims, rumored to be more than a dozen.

_What is she doing? _He wondered, unable to ask before she gathered her papers and left without saying a word.

BBBBBBB

Booth made his way down the stairs to the shooting range, finding his partner wielding a new weapon, finishing her target practice and removing her protective goggles.

"I thought I'd find you here. You know you being a good shot, doing martial arts; it's all your way of dealing. I mean who knows better than _you_ how fragile life can be." Brennan ignored his attempt to illicit more information about her past. It was time for the tables to be turned.

"Maybe an army ranger sniper who became an FBI homicide investigator?" Booth smiled, flattered,

"Ah, you looked me up, huh?" he stepped up to the platform where her gun laid, "you mind?"

"Be my guest." Temperance took a step back and watched, bemused, as he hit the paper target peripherally. She chuckled and looked up at his displeased expression,

"Were you any good at being a sniper?" Booth stood a bit taller, intent on setting her straight.

"Snipers get to know a little something about killers. Senator Bethlehem he's no killer." He asserted confidently.

"Oh and Oliver Laurier is?" She challenged back, something Booth was beginning to expect.

"The way I read Laurier, he's unhinged. That makes him dangerous." Brennan resisted the urge to laugh, _bones, you can read based on scientific markers, people cannot be read_.

"That'd be your gut telling you that, correct?" She mocked lightly, wondering how he really justified this 'gut feeling'.

"You know, homicides, they're not solved by scientists. They're solved by guys like me asking a thousand questions a thousand times catching people telling lies every time." Booth leaned in, resting one hand on the wall behind her head, waiting for Temperance to push aside the detached Brennan and push him back.

To his surprise Brennan didn't flinch and Booth pressured her again, asserting his dominance, his control of the situation.

"You're great at what you do Bones, but you don't solve murders. Cops do." And just as Booth was declaring his victory, Brennan moved closer and began to catalog her contributions to the case and called his bluff.

"Cleo Eller was killed on a cement floor sprinkled with diatomaceous earth. Traces of her blood will still be in that cement. One of us is wrong, maybe both of us. But if Bethlehem wasn't a senator you'd be right there in his basement looking for that killing floor. You're afraid of him, your hypothesis is that squints don't solve murders and cops do. Prove it. Be a cop."

Brennan turned and left the agent behind, smiling as she heard him shoot the target twice, knowing that she'd made her case that "squints" gave the cops the information they needed to solve the murders.

END Chapter

AN: There will be one more chapter covering the Pilot. Thanks to friendsidol5 for the beta work!


	5. Defining the Terms

AN: (Sighs dramatically) It totally pains me to do this but I've disabled unsigned reviews. It's rather frustrating as an author when someone misunderstands the point of your story, implies you're an idiot and you have no way of engaging them in a discussion. Please sign in and review if you enjoy this chapter and I will reply to you. I've deleted the nasty unsigned reviews because this person has no idea what they're talking about. Again this is an AU story and uses lots of scenes from the show. I, however, own nothing.

On a second note, one stylistic thing I've chosen for this story is character titles based on time period. Generally, when you read about B&B in high school or having a close connection like they did in high school I'll refer to them as "Seeley" and "Temperance". When we are in the present and they are working on cases as professionals and/or struggling to find a comfortable relationship, I'll refer to them as "Brennan" and "Booth". Just something to look out for.

Because I'm incredibly lucky and have horrid grammar, this chapter was betaed by both friendsidol5 and katiebeth. Thank you both!

**Chapter 5 Defining the Terms**

Temperance Brennan had always been a good student. Quiet, almost painfully shy, she took to hiding behind her immense talent for words, language, and numbers as a coping mechanism. Most children would find a life-altering event, such as the one she experienced, as a jarring disruption to routine that often results in lower grades at school, problems with once close friends, and the start of many troubles, sometimes with the law. But Temperance retreated into her habits, finding she could only truly block out life's challenges when she was studying.

So it was no surprise to those who knew her, even peripherally, that Temperance spent her free period studying even as others around her passed notes and copied homework from their peers. Temperance found her study time, scheduled the hour before biology, was the perfect time to memorize terms for the upcoming chapter and then read that chapter thoroughly. This day, however, was a break in her routine as Temperance reflected on her run-in with Seeley during history, the biology text lying in front of her unread.

While she was unsurprised that he was cutting class, especially one as difficult as French II, she was shocked he chose to seek her out during his truancy. Temperance enjoyed working alone, blocking out any noise and ignorant to the passing of time, but lately Seeley had become more persistent in his efforts to work _with_ her. Even as a freshman, Temperance had been recognized as stellar student, even in the large school where it was easy to be lost in the crowd. Maybe it was due, in part, to Russ's influence. He had been a popular student who had graduated just last year; Temperance smiled, remembering how her brother looked out for her.

As a bright student, often entering Honors classes well before her classmates, Temperance had a firm policy to say no to group projects. At least once a semester some teacher would take the challenge to teach Temperance the importance of teamwork and insist she learn to "work well with others". When that disaster ended, Temperance would be allowed to finish the class working alone. She was acutely aware of those who took advantage of her intellect for their own gain and was learning, with some difficulty, those who took advantage of her circumstances as well.

The bell rung loudly and disrupted her thoughts and Temperance scowled, surprised that she had read just half the chapter before biology class began. _Never again,_ she vowed,_ will Seeley Booth get in the way of the work I need to do!_

BBBBBBBB

Brennan moved down the hallway, well aware that she was being watched by several FBI agents. Part of her wanted to take them down like she had that security guard from the airport, especially one man by the elevator who was openly leering at her. Instead, Brennan decided to ignore them and relegate the experience to a 'con' of working in the field. Not that Booth would understand what it was like to be objectified.

Approaching the room she had been summoned to, Brennan knocked on Booth's door and found him watching archived video footage of Cleo Eller at her college graduation with her family. Booth looked up and wondered, briefly, who had attended Brennan's many graduations, if anyone.

"They look pretty happy, don't they? Otherwise they wouldn't turn on the camera, I guess." Brennan didn't move, observing Booth watch the video was an anomaly. He seemed quieter, almost sad.

"Zack said you wanted to see me." Booth paused the video, gesturing with the remote.

"Is that something you don't like to talk about? Families?" She turned to leave the office; giving a part of herself as Angela suggested was one thing, but Booth poking into her personal life was another.

"Temperance... partners, they share things. Builds trust." His use of her first name did not go unnoticed and Booth didn't have to wait long for her retort.

"Since when are we partners?" she challenged, arms crossed. Booth narrowed his eyes and began to push back. He wanted Temperance back.

"Since biology."

BBBBBBB

"Hey, Temperance," Seeley greeted his lab partner as he hopped up on the table. Temperance ignored the intrusion, apparently unwilling to forgive his disruption during history earlier that day.

"Hello? Tempe…hello? Earth to Temperance! Marco?" Seeley was successful in getting her attention then, Temperance snapped her head up, a hurt look on her face before she buried her head back in the biology text book and ignored him for the remainder of the school day.

Seeley was sufficiently confused and had no plausible reason to engage her in conversation. Dr. Klauson wouldn't have their next specimen ready for a few more days and he certainly wasn't going to spend his time helping anyone else dissect. This left him with studying for the test. Instead, Seeley spent three quarters of an hour staring at the same two pages wondering what he'd done this time to annoy Temperance into silence.

When the final bell rang, Seeley was the first out the door. He passed his locker and was in the senior parking lot before most students got out of the building. The biology book was tossed carelessly in the truck's cab as Seeley left school behind for the day.

Two hours later, he sat on the truck's tailgate, waiting. Temperance saw Seeley before he spotted her, just a block away from her foster home where he dropped her off last Friday.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely confused with his behavior.

"I want a truce," Seeley said, watching her for a sign. She looked up, her blue eyes dancing with curiosity.

"Why?" He had to smile at her skepticism.

"I don't know if you hate me or what, Temperance, but I don't want to make you miserable for the next six months."

"You don't make me miserable," Temperance protested weakly.

"I think I make you uncomfortable." Seeley watched her shrug helplessly. He patted the tailgate. "Jump up, let's get all the weirdness out of the way so we can get through biology unscathed." Temperance offered a small smile and perched on the ledge, looking as if she were ready to cut and run on a moment's notice.

Seeley watched her; clearly his attempt to make her comfortable around him was failing miserably.

"Want to grab that pizza? My treat," he finally offered, catching her eyes. Temperance paused a beat and then nodded.

BBBBB

Back at Arlington, Brennan laid a rose on Cleo's casket. It seemed right that this was where it should end, where Cleo should be laid to rest. It was strange being back at the cemetery with Booth, so much had changed in the last week. Just ten days ago she was preparing to leave Guatemala and return to her life at the Jeffersonian. Now she stood next to a man who knew so much and yet so little about her, who had proven to be a reliable partner in the past, but whom she didn't know if she could trust in her future.

Walking away from the interment site, Temperance paused, watching the Ellers lay flowers on the casket of their only daughter. Watching her, Booth could only wonder if she missed this ritual with her own parents, where she went for peace, for closure.

"You know, if it weren't for you... those people would never have known what happened to their daughter. That's gotta be worse than the truth," he reassured her. Temperance took in a slow breath before taking a chance,

"I know exactly how the Ellers felt about Cleo. My parents disappeared when I was 15, and nobody knows what happened to them." Booth paused, knowing it was just as hard for her to admit now as it had been when she was his lab partner. He looked away, glad he'd been patient, and waited for her to give him the chance he'd been waiting for, the revelation he'd asked for.

"Being a sniper, I took a lot of lives. What I'd _like_ to do before I'm done is try and catch at least that many murderers."

Temperance exhaled loudly, "Please. You don't think that there's some kind of cosmic balance sheet." Booth looked down and Brennan immediately regretted her words.

"I'd like to help you with that," she offered as they walked out of the national cemetery, feeling, for the first time in a long time, like Temperance and Seeley again, without complications or titles, egos or agendas.

END Chapter

AN: I will keep going with this chapter and am working on the new episode right now. It is incredibly time consuming to get the dialogue down word for word, include the mood, location, actions, and intonations correctly and then decide how I want to change or interpret the episode. Plus write all the backstory, which comes from my own high school experiences and imagination. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I anticipate this will be a very long fic and look forward to posting more soon. Beta note below from Katie.

BN: Well, I'm back! The second semester has just started at my school, and guess what?? I have honors biology first period! What a terrific way to start the day. But we don't get to dissect things, oh no. We get to determine if the goldfish in the back of the classroom are alive or not. Now doesn't that sound like fun?? Okay, okay. Excuse the bitterness and sarcasm. It's about 12:30 am right now, and I've just finished my homework (finally). See, having three honors classes is kinda tough. Especially when your only other class is Latin (I'm on a block schedule; I only have four classes a day). Okay, well, I'm going to actually go to sleep, seeing as I have a Latin test and world history quiz tomorrow. Not to mention my first paideia seminar (Google it) of the semester. Adios, amigos! And don't forget to sign in and review ;)


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